Disclosed herein are methods to prevent the wrong consumable from being used in a printing device, and in particular to such methods for ensuring that the correct color toner cartridge is replaced in a printing device, as well as corresponding apparatus.
It is often desirable to control access to an ink barrel within a printing device in order to safeguard against accidental or unintended addition of ink. This is particularly the case where the wrong ink may be harmful to printing systems. The wrong color ink added to a barrel will contaminate the entire ink system inclusive of the barrel, melter, ink lines and the heads. If this mistake is made, there will be a service disaster. The printing system could be down for days and it could get very expensive in replacement parts.
The increase in the number of abilities and features of printers has resulted in tremendously complex electronic and mechanical designs. With more complex designs come more potential problems and more possibilities for operator error. For instance, with the advent of color copying and printing, it is possible for the operator to use the wrong color ink to refill one of the barrels, and unless some type of safe guard mechanism to prevent it is provided, this can have disastrous consequences. The operator can follow certain operational procedures to insure that the correct ink is inserted or introduced to the correct barrel. Unfortunately, even with all of the checks that are provided, it is still possible for the operator to make a serious mistake when refilling the printer with ink. Nothing prevents the operator from trying to fill a full or partially full barrel or toner hopper. The use of color ink like in color laser printer only helps to add another dimension to existing problems. For instance, an operator might not pay attention to the particular color, might simply grab the wrong color, or may even assume that because a particular color is empty, so too must be the black, cyan and yellow in their respective barrels.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for informing an operator that a consumable needs to be replenished and, in particularly, there is a need in the art for a lockout mechanism for controlling access to an ink barrel in a printing system.